European Patent Application No. 85/400,652.5, published under No. 0,151,549, in the name of The Procter & Gamble Company, describes an original process for washing fabrics in a machine with a liquid detergent. According to this process, a device containing a liquid detergent and comprising unoccluded vents, is employed. This device is placed with the clothing to be washed in the drum of the machine and the machine is started up allowing the washing cycle to proceed, with the detergent thus flowing progressively into the fabrics and the washing bath as soon as the machine is started up. According to an embodiment, a predetermined quantity of liquid detergent is poured into the device, which comprises a filling orifice for this purpose and, at the end of the washing, the device is recovered and may be reused. A process of this kind improves the efficiency of the washing of fabrics in a machine very appreciably and it is widely developed, with great commercial success in Europe.
Devices permitting the use of the process indicated above are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,872, issued Nov. 3, 1987 to Cornette et al. A device of this kind comprises at least one filling orifice and vents for the progressive release of the liquid within the fabrics in the course of washing. By way of example, the device comprises a body and an added assembly which is intended for filling and/or for distributing the liquid. An assembly of this kind can be mounted permanently onto the body or, on the other hand, may be removable. An assembly of this kind may comprise a central filling orifice and vents distributed at its periphery. According to an advantageous embodiment, the filling orifice is in the shape of an open shaft descending inside the body. It will also be noted that an arrangement which is advantageous in practice consists in imparting an essentially spherical shape to the device. Nevertheless, this shape is not limiting in any way, and for example, other shapes of revolution may be used.
For the purpose of washing, the device is filled with liquid detergent and, thus filled, it is placed in the drum of the machine, where the fabrics are already present, the liquid detergent contained in the device being progressively distributed in the course of washing within the washing medium and within the fabrics.
It is desirable to have available a simple process capable of being implemented with inexpensive devices, in order to solve simultaneously a number of technical problems which arise with the detergent compositions currently available commercially. The first problem to be solved is to place at the user's disposal a process and a device for adapting the washing conditions to the degree of soiling of the fabrics, in order thus to provide "wash with options". This problem is general and it exists both in the case of liquid detergent compositions and in the case of compositions which are in particulate form. An additional problem results from the fact that it is desirable to perform the washing of fabrics with a detergent composition whose constituents exert their activity at their optimum time, both by being involved in the washing process, for example in order to play a role in protecting the components of the washing machine, and in order to fulfill their specific function during the washing, which is the case, for example, with enzymes, softeners, grease stain removers, peroxygen compound, bleaching catalysts, bleaching activators, bactericides, foam regulators, optical brighteners and other similar constituents with a specific function. Such constituents must be available at determined times during the washing cycle and the technical problem to be solved is to find a simple and practical process for presenting these constituents so as to make them available for the washing to proceed according to a predetermined and optimum sequence.
Another problem to be solved, which arises more particularly in the case of liquid detergents, is that of the mutual incompatibility of certain constituents of the composition with regard to others. This incompatibility may be more or less pronounced, but people who specialize in this subject are well aware of this problem. It is also desirable to deliver certain constituents of the composition in a separate form so as to enable them to have a delayed effect by virtue, for example, of their being dissolved more slowly during the washing.
The invention provides a solution to the problems just mentioned, whatever the type of detergent employed, and does so while exploiting the currently existing devices which are described, for example, in the above mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,872 and which have in practice been found highly appropriate for the use of the general washing technique described particularly in the above mentioned European Patent Application 0,151,549.